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Hughesv.State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A22A1428
DecidedJanuary 4, 2023
Reporter366 Ga. App. 335; 883 S.E.2d 23; 2023 Ga. App. LEXIS 2; 2023 WL 31017
JudgesBarnes, P. J.; Doyle, P. J.; and Senior Appellate Judge Herbert E. Phipps, concurring.
Tags
CriminalSearch and SeizureNo-Knock WarrantMotion to SuppressParticularized FactsMethamphetamineInterlocutory Appeal
Case Summary

After two controlled methamphetamine buys at Bonnie Hughes’s home, officers obtained a warrant authorizing a no-knock entry based on surveillance cameras, her alleged daily movement of drugs, and general claims that drugs are easy to hide or destroy. The search uncovered methamphetamine and other evidence, and the trial court denied Hughes’s motion to suppress. On interlocutory appeal, the Court of Appeals held that the affidavit lacked particularized facts showing that announcing the search would increase danger or cause immediate evidence destruction: it identified no history of violence or drugs prepared for quick disposal, and cameras and an earlier unanswered knock-and-talk were not enough. The State argued that officers actually gave notice and Hughes was outside, but it had not raised that theory below, and the suppression hearing record contained only the warrant. The court reversed the denial of suppression.

Opinion

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